82 nautique floor repair

Lee,
Nothing has been determined yet. Even if you do find some problems, keeping the boat running for a few years is certainly possible. It's the reason I brought up the alignment issue. It's key to keeping a eye on what's going on.

skicat2001 wrote: I guess I am worried "***************tless" if mine are warped or rotted.

My guess is that they probably are rotten to some degree since your boat is 20+ years old. I bet 95% of 2001's are. Maybe more! Check your motor mounts. If the bolts snug up, then the engine isnt going to move around and damage the drivetrain. We've yet to see a CC snap in half due to rotten stringers- and there are some pretty bad ones out there- so dont stress out. If youre not equipped to handle a stringer job at this point, dont worry- just read all you can here and get used to the idea that you'll need to do it eventually. Its not that hard.

Remember, it could be worse. Our Skier had been rebuilt at some point with particle board. PARTICLE BOARD! The carpet was holding the floor up. Now THAT boat was in need of stringer and floor replacement!

Hey Dennis,Greg,Tr, and Pete,
I apperciate you guys responce greatly. Since this post thread has started it has made me think about my stringers, and are mine damaged. I am trying to gather as much knowledge and understand how and what damaged stringers look like. I guess what has got me complteley confused is my floor is so solid,and so intact it would not show water damage anywhere. My mechanic was just telling me that where water is stored,so this weekend I know where to take pics off and then post them and get a true opionion from the boys here at CCF. Again, thanks for replying, I guess I am worried "***************tless" if mine are warped or rotted.

Lee, ask him if he has ever had the front floor removed from this vintage with the problems ?

Once someone opens the can of worms you begin to understand what you read in the CC FANS forums

Dennis

We've heard about the vent hoses and battery box drains from this year range before. Both had failed in my case, but I bet they won't again...at least while I'm kickin'!

Lee,
Yes it's agreed that stringer problems are hard to diagnose and the reason using a hole saw to check the suspected area was recommended.

Tapping can tell you a lot IF the glass has become delaminated from the wood. It's not always easy to tell how bad the wood is just by listening to a sound.

If rot is found, I would never recommend a patch. The water/rot is in there are just waiting to continue in another spot.

Did your mechanic tell you polyester resin is hydroscopic? Yes, that means if you have wet foam, the water will migrate into the wood. We are not talking about standing water in the bilge. If a polyester boat sits in the water, then water will even migrate through the hull. It's the reason some boats will get hull blistering. This problem is one reason we promote the use of epoxy resin. It's not hydroscopic. Epoxy barrier coats are also used to prevent and repair hull blistering on boats that do sit in the water. "AME" resin has been used on CC's for quite some time. I understand it's a polyvinyl and it too is not hydroscopic.

Here is what my mechanic says which I have learned alot about stringers and repair.
Stringers can be tough to diagnose. (Because you can’t see them ). Although floors and stringers usually show signs of going bad together, it doesn’t happen like that. The only way for floors or stringers to go bad is water getting on them allot. So where we usually go to see if the stringers are bad is the bilge under the motor and the area under the gas tank. These are the two areas where water collects. Its hard for the untrained eye to tell, but real simply by tapping on them with a screwdriver you can tell where soft spots are. Then you can determine whether the area can be patch fixed or you have to replace the whole stringer. It is an unwritten rule that if you have to replace the stringers, you also replace the floor. (Because it has to be removed anyway). The good news is, I hardly doubt that boat needs stringer, because of how you store it!! Thanks, Gabe

Lee - You might want to consider doing the dirty tear down part yourself & then having someone do the rebuild work.

Other than sawing a hole thru the hull (which is repairable anyway) there isn't much to screw up on that part of the job. Some guys do the tear down outside, so you don't need a shop.

I've got a pile of stuff for sale for $19.95     

WakeSlayer wrote: +200 beers

+200 beers

I would like to know too.. Sounds like a expensive job, guessing 8k to 9k is about for whole job..

Couple guys have tried.

eric lavine wrote: 200x50- 10k, generally glass work is 50 per hour

Well, there you go! I used $50/hr too (just by chance), but I figured that after their third one and with all those nice tools at the dealership, they could probably knock out a stringer job in 150 hrs.
   

81nautique wrote: Pete, when I hit the lottery and can quit working I'm going to do a four year apprenticeship here

Alan,
If you win the lottery, you could just have Van Dam build a boat for you But on second thought, that wouldn't be as much fun!

BTW, I know 6 of those boats they had on their site are on Lake Geneva (where the $$$ is!!) and I know 2 are chapter members. We get several others that do come to the show as well. Next fall you need to make it and see them up close.